Vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty are examples of surgical procedures for treating fractured and diseased bones. In these procedures a bone void fill material or filler, such as a bone cement, is introduced, as by injection, into the fractured bone, e.g., the vertebral body. Improvement is desired in the composition of bone void fillers.
In this regard, the invention relates to a bone void filler material that incorporates a hydrogel component provided by microparticulates made of a pre-set, e.g., fully polymerized, hydrogel, dispersed within a carrier component, preferably provided by an adhesive, to maintain the hydrogel particulates proximate to one another so that the fill material is a substantially cohesive and flowable mass. The bone void fill material may be introduced, such as via a needle, into a void of a bone, such as a cavity within a vertebral body during a vertebroplasty procedure.
The microparticulates of the hydrogel component are substantially a solid, but swell upon exposure to body fluids to substantially fill the vertebral body. The carrier component helps to maintain the microparticulates proximate to one another and yield a flowable, injectable mass that remains cohesive within the bone void.
In another aspect, the invention relates to a method of filling a bone void. The method includes the steps of providing microparticulates of a pre-set hydrogel material; providing a flowable carrier; dispersing the microparticles within the carrier component to render a substantially flowable mass; and flowably introducing the mass of microparticles dispersed within the carrier component into a bone void.